Hitachi Rail GTS Hungary Kft. | railway signaling and interlocking systems

Project Background

Hitachi Rail is a subsidiary of the over 100-year-old Japanese multinational Hitachi, a leading company in several areas of electronic devices, specializing in railway mobility solutions. The company culture is driven by a pursuit of perfection, maximalism, and continuous innovation, shaping every process, system, and project it undertakes or sets as a goal.

The Solution

Tetra took over the Business Central ERP project of Hitachi Rail as a brownfield implementation, one year after the system went live: initially as an external consultant, then as first-line support representing the business teams’ needs to the implementers, and eventually becoming almost an internal team by 2025, taking over system operation and further development. This collaboration highlights the importance of harmonious synergy between business teams, processes, technological tools, and information for success. 

The cooperation between Hitachi and the previous implementer during the setup of the integrated ERP system resulted in a platform with many custom developments across various areas, which over time became difficult and costly to operate, maintain, and further develop. By applying industry experience, best practices, and methodologies, Tetra re-standardized many processes, focusing custom developments on areas that provide a distinctive competitive advantage.

A key characteristic of Hitachi Rail’s operations is that the post-sales support of complex and expensive railway equipment and projects must be maintained for many years (15–20+), keeping track of unique configurations, warranty obligations, service histories, and custom modifications. Configuration management is highly complex, and the availability dictated by contracts can only be ensured through real-time, multi-dimensional, and continuously accessible analytical tools, supported by integrated Microsoft Power BI.

Result

In the first phase, the success of Hitachi Rail’s ERP project was evaluated by management based on whether scheduled and real-time data queries could reliably, timely, and accurately support the contractual servicing of projects. This goal was fully achieved by the system and the project. The next phase and the ongoing developments are characterized by the introduction of IoT-based telemetry and predictive maintenance solutions using AI algorithms, with the high expectations typical of Hitachi.
Due to the nature of the railway industry, the highest level of security classification is a fundamental requirement for all internal and external solutions of the company, and compliance with this is an integral part of every project phase.